Friday, July 20, 2012

i really don't think richie was expecting me to say that. methinks i'm the most outwardly prudish person associated with hapa...yet, there i was gleefully suggesting that richie be naked for the camera. you know, for the hapa on filllmore kickstarter.

i qualified it with "i really don't think people want to to see you naked. it is more about how it would be funny and demeaning. we could ask jesse could film you from behind jumping into the pool. give people an incentive to pledge us beyond 100%."

richie didn't really looked too convinced by it. i also wasn't too certain how jesse would feel about filming it either, but i certainly wasn't going to film it. i also had a feeling that i'd get vetoes from sus, svet, and finch as being tapped as videographers well.

but i was pretty stubborn on the point of having an incentive that people would like in order to keep pledging beyond 100%. then i clarified some more with "you know how anthony bourdain bitches about some of the demeaning things his producers have him do on his shows but he does them anyway right? it is because people LOVE that shit."

"i'm not jumping in a pool naked."

"i really don't care if you are naked. it just has to be dignity challenging. i mean, really, i saw that munchies video. you were dry humping brett."

"ok, i'll figure something out but i'm not going to be naked."

this was just a snippet of many o' many conversations i've had with hapa over the past few weeks regarding the hapa on fillmore kickstarter campaign that we launched on tuesday morning.

there have been meetings at the kitchen, discussions during breaks in service, running around filming videos, late night texting conversations, and conference calls.....all while i am working my corporate job and while everyone else is prepping, cooking, and working service.

even after we launched, there is still much to do. in between non-hapa meetings i was having downtown, i'd try to make progress on the "thank you" sketches for the kickstarter backers that contributed the largest dollar amounts.

seeing me sketch something in a conference room while waiting for the next meeting to start is not something that folks usually see. so when people asked me about it....i told them what they were for, told them about the campaign, and my involvement in it. they looked surprised. i could also see that they "saw" me differently. not in a bad way. just looking at me like a puzzle that they hadn't quite figured out.

it is difficult to describe how it felt to not hide one aspect of my life from another.

in many ways, i am, like hapa, entering another stage in my life. there are an incredible amount of things going on right now and it has been lovely to see so much support for hapa through tweets, photos, postings, shout-outs, and videos.

i hope, dear reader, that you will also consider contributing to the hapa kickstarter. it doesn't have to be funds toward helping us build our dream kitchen...every tweet, sharing, posting, or link also helps us get the word out about the upcoming restaurant. every bit helps!